All has not been well for 80-year-old Meenakshi’s family from Ayyamuthanpatti village in Melur.
Her deceased husband Karuppiah served the Indian Army for two decades. He received a regular pension of ₹5,015 until February 2010. However, after he passed away, his wife and two children were devoid of these benefits.
Now, Meenakshi suffers from cataract and her son, 59-year-old Manivasan, is hearing impaired, while her 41-year-old daughter, Nachiammal, is visually impaired.
The family owns a small piece of land in their village and depends on agriculture for their food and income. However, they have not been successful because of failure of monsoon over the past two years. All the three have been registered under the Family Pension register but have not reaped any monetary help.
Meenakshi says that she has written to the revenue officials and has also petitioned the District Collector in the past but these efforts have been futile.
“It has been eight years but no one has given us the money. I hope the Collector takes into account our plight and gives us the accrued amount with the updated pension,” she said at the Collectorate here on Monday.